Basanti Devi is an Indian environmentalist. She has been concerned with preserving trees in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. She was awarded the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2016.

Life

Devi spent her adolescence near Kausani in the Lakshmi Ashram which is a Gandhian ashram for young girls founded by

Sarla Behn Sarala Behn (born Catherine Mary Heilman; 5 April 19018 July 1982) was an English Gandhian social activist whose work in the Kumaon region of India helped create awareness about the environmental destruction in the Himalayan forests of the state ...

. She ended up there in 1980 after her husband died as she was a widow at a very young age after being married at the age of twelve. She had been to school before she married but she was only just able to read. At the Ashram she continued to study after reaching the 12th standard, and she became interested in teaching. The wages were poor but her father approved of the work. She became an environmentalist. She has been concerned with preserving trees in

. The

Kosi River The Kosi or Koshi ( ne, कोशी, , hi, कोसी, ) is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a major confluence o ...

is an important resource in Uttarakhand. The river is responsible for major flooding in Bihar that can affect tens of thousands of hectares of land and a million people. Devi read an article that estimated that the river would cease to exist in a decade if the felling of trees continued at the current rate. She went to speak to local women explaining that this was their forest and their land and asking what they would do once the river had dried up. This began to convince people. She began a negotiation. It was agreed that the villagers and the timber companies would cease to cut new wood. Villagers agreed that they would only burn old wood. Devi organised community groups and the villagers realised that they needed to conserve their wealth and they would volunteer to fight forest fires. The effects have been slow to see but it is noted that springs that used to dry up in the summer now run all year. Moreover, the forest shows more diversity with more broad leafed trees like oak, rhododendron and

myrica esculenta ''Myrica esculenta'' is a tree or large shrub native to the hills of northern India, southern Bhutan and Nepal. Its common names include box myrtle, bayberry and kaphal. Its berries are edible and are consumed locally. It is the state fruit ...

plants appearing. In March 2016 Devi went to New Delhi where she was awarded the highest award for women in India, the Nari Shakti Puraskar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Basanti Indian women environmentalists Indian environmentalists 1960s births Living people Year of birth uncertain People from Uttarakhand